Talent

With a rapidly evolving, global economy, the race for talent is increasingly competitive. In every industry, employers are asking the same question: How are we going to train and retain the best workers? Education and talent development and retention are the key to our region’s future, our children’s futures and economic growth.

At the core of the Chamber is the commitment to ensuring that current and future generations have career opportunities in our region by enhancing the quantity and quality of the talent in the Charleston metro.
The Chamber is dedicated to providing programs and services to preserve and attract quality talent in the region and ensure members remain highly competitive and aim to support the talent needs all business.

Our work with our region’s largest public school districts is transforming the outcomes of students by working to ensure they graduate career- and college-ready. Our involvement in Tri-County Cradle to Career in the high school arena is aligning efforts in our region to reduce high school dropout rates and prepare local students to qualify for the jobs being created in our area.
We also work to ensure that the talent business has today is provided the resources and professional development training to grow and expand. From Charleston Young Professionals to Leadership Discovery and Leadership Charleston, the Chamber provides the avenue for members to grow and retain their current and future talent pipeline.

Talent Demand Study

The Chamber, in partnership with the Charleston Regional Development Alliance and a number of higher education institutions in the region, released our Talent Demand Study that examined the region’s growth and educational skills offered in the community to ensure they were aligned to meet both current and future talent needs. The study was conducted as a way to quantify information the Chamber was hearing from employers regarding skill gaps in certain areas.
The Talent Demand Study was released in June 2014 and showed several significant trends:
In the next five years, the region will create more than 25,000 new jobs – nearly seven times the growth rate of the previous five years.
Occupation clusters forecasted to have the highest growth rates include:

Industrial Production (+21.4%)

Computer and Software (+19.9%)

Science and Engineering (+16.4%)

Sales and Marketing (+13.5%)

Medical (+13.4%)

Business (+10.2%)

The study found gaps in the region’s educational structure – at both the high school and post-secondary levels – to adequately produce the skills forecasted. It was also found that many of the technical and high-wage jobs that are being created in the region are being filled with better-educated workers moving to the region from out of South Carolina. As a result of the study, the Chamber is focused on our region’s high school students working to ensure they do have the skills required to fill the jobs being created in our region.
View the Talent Demand Analysis Results